The game yesterday and I will underscore it first so my detractors won’t say I didn’t say this was a TEAM LOSS. The Broncos couldn’t handle the Seahawks young aggressive style of defensive play. The Special Teams play was horrendous, from the mid 3rd quarter on the Broncos Defense came undone. The tackling and the pass coverage melted down. The Offense Line didn’t protect Manning as well as they could have on some plays and the running game stalled. Lastly the offensive game plan was one of the worst ever.
Still… in my opinion Manning was the biggest negative as far
as the team was concerned. The first play of the game proved it. I’ve been saying
for 2 years that running a hurry up offense for an entire game was not always a
good game plan and it blew up in dramatic fashion in the Super Bowl.
The noise level was a factor on the Broncos first play and
first offensive series. Instead of just sticking with the original play call
Manning at the last second changed his mind and the Center couldn’t hear the
call. Result: a snap above Manning’s head, this wasn’t the Center’s fault it
was Manning’s and his pension for trying to be the trickster instead of running
a conventional offense cost him dearly. Unfortunately that dumb play set the
tone for the rest of the day.
The two INT’s that Manning threw were very costly as well.
On both plays he was feeling pressure but instead of throwing the ball away or
taking sacks he tried to force it in knowing there was good coverage. Manning
had to have known the Seahawks would blitz and pressure him; he should have
been patient enough to know not every one of his passes could be a competition.
Furthermore this idea that the Offensive Line is to blame for the lack of
passing offense is utter nonsense. He had time to throw on many plays but
couldn’t get the ball deep down field because he wasn’t patient enough or
confident enough in his arm to make them. His throws were late, early,
short and to long and he wasn’t calling the right plays against the Seahawks
Defense. It wasn’t a coverage problem or an Offensive Line pass blocking problem
it was Manning’s problem.
Manning’s play calling was a very conservative passing
offense. The screens, the short outs weren’t working and he gave up on the
running game way to soon. It didn’t fool the Seahawks at all in the first half
and he didn’t change up his calls in the second. He didn't attempt to throw the ball deep even after it was clear he needed to in the 2nd half to get back in the game.
The Defense did an outstanding job of keeping Marshawn Lynch in check. He had 39
total yards. This was exactly what they needed to do going into the game since
he was the Seahawks biggest offense threat. They also held the Seahawks to 2 FG’s
in the 1st Q which was amazing considering the field position and
the momentum the Seahawks had on their side. Yes the Broncos D had some
injuries to key players going in and the damn broke in the second half but I can’t
be all that disappointed in their overall performance.
The problem lied with the Offense and Manning who essentially
became the Offense Coordinator of the Broncos when he was signed 2 years ago to a
mega bucks contract. Adam Gase is
the Offensive Coordinator in name only, Manning is the real OC and that’s the problem.
His sand lot type of hurry up offense has proven to be a fruad and his post
season play continues to be some of the worse in the history of the game.
Despite all the individual regular season records he set this year the one that would have mattered most was a Super Bowl win. Despite having the 4 greatest set of Receivers in the
history of the franchise, 2 capable RB’s and a serviceable Offense Line Manning
made the Seahawks D look way better than they actually are and could do nothing to
generate any offense.
As I mentioned earlier the Broncos D did what had to until
late in the 3rd Q to give him a chance to recover and reload but he
wasn’t up to it. The Broncos lost as a team but the one player on that team,
the MVP of the League, the so called greatest QB in NFL history played an uninspired and unimaginative
game. He had the greatest offensive team
he’s ever had surrounding him and laid a disastrous egg.
If Manning couldn’t win a Championship with the team he had
on the field yesterday he never will. I’m convince he won’t and if he was
smart he'd do the Broncos, the Fans and himself a huge favor and bow out now.
Then the Broncos could give Brock Osweiler the job and use the $20 million dollar salary due to
Manning next year to rebuild and shop for Rookies and Defensive Free Agents at
every position, especially in the Defensive Backfield.
Of course this isn’t going to happen because Manning won’t
walk away from the big money. Manning has said he still enjoys the game and wants to play but I believe
what will motivate him more is the astronomical paycheck he’ll receive. This is the
wrong reason for him to continue because from here on out it’ll only
get uglier for him and more importantly the team and the fans.
The Manning experiment has run its course and failed big
time, it’s time to move on instead of delaying the enviable pain that will
follow if he suits up next year. Love me, hate that's how I see it from my armchair.
5 comments:
I'm so glad you're not making the decisions!!!
Yes - unprecedented offensive production and PFM is the problem Tell us more.
Nope, everyone see it for what it is, this assessment is about exactly how it went down. Manning was unwilling to challenge the 1 on 1 coverages, and only threw 3-5 yard balls all game long no matter the down and distance situation or the evaporating time running off of the scoreboard. He never led the team at all, but he surely led his wr's into giant hits often which veteran qb's dont do. He refused to attack their deep coverage or even the mid-level, and they were overjoyed as they refused to stop sitting down in the box and hammering all his high percentage short throws.
A legend in such a big game, where they had been challenging his legacy all week prior, played uninspired, and appeared beaten from the first play. In any sport, i have never seen such a prominent figure in the title game play worse or lay down easier than this. It was sad, and such a waste of effort by the defense who took out the opponents best weapon by absolutely busting Lynch's behind all game long, boss.
Post a Comment